River cruising is huge in Europe and growing in Asia, but there's one place it hasn't made deep inroads: Southern Africa.
That may be about to change. CroisiEurope, the largest river cruiser in Europe, is poised to expand by begin sailing through the safari grounds along the Chobe and Zambezi rivers on the border between Namibi's Caprivi Strip and Botswana. It joins Fred Olsen's high-end AmaWaterways in the market.
This region differs from other parts of Africa in that unlike semi-arid game viewing at other national park wildlife lands, it's essentially part of a mighty floodplain that gathers moisture from a vast region of middle Africa. CroisiEurope's route will touch upon Chobe National Park, one of the best locations for wildlife-spotting in the region, and enable a side trip to the world-famous Victoria Falls, on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe.
It's a bold expansion, because it will also incorporate a land-based lodged owned by the company. From CroisiEurope's press announcement: